He hardly expected to see it, for it would have been beyond his sight in any one of a dozen different portions of the body.
But if in one of the limbs, it would quickly show in the gait of the animal.
"No," he murmured, "there is no change of pace; it could not have been much, and it may be she was not hit at all." The rustlers fired two shots at this moment, when the horseman was more of a target than his animal, but he gave no heed to that; it was she for whom he felt concern.
A glance backward brought a thrill of hope.

The distance between him and his pursuers had perceptibly increased.

Queenie was showing her heels to those who dared dispute with her the supremacy of fleetness.
She would soon leave them out of sight, unless it should prove she was disabled by some of the shots.
All would have gone well but for the appearance of a new danger of which he did not dream.
Suddenly Queenie emitted her faint, familiar whinny, and swerved to the left.

She had scented a new peril.
In the gloom almost directly ahead loomed the figures of other horsemen bearing down upon the fugitive.

They might be friends, and they might be enemies, but it would not do to take chances.